1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a grinding apparatus having a pressing portion for shaping a surface of a workpiece.
2. Description of Related Art
A roll grinder is generally utilized to round and/or polish a surface of a workpiece (see “High Efficiency Deep Grinding of a Low Alloy Steel with Plated CBN Wheels”, CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology, pp. 241-244, Volume 51, Issue 1, 2002). A typical roll grinder includes a pair of hollows. In a grinding process, the hollows are pumped/evacuated so as to create suction to hold a workpiece. The workpiece is then grinded using a grinding wheel. However, this grinder is not very efficient because the grinder can only shape one workpiece at a time.
There are grinding methods for grinding a number of workpieces at one time. In one related grinding method, the workpieces are placed on a grinding bed, coated with a ultraviolet (UV) emulsion, and exposed to a UV light to cure the UV emulsion until the workpieces become attached to the grinding bed. The workpieces are grinded, and the UV emulsion is melted to displace/detach the workpieces from the grinding bed. However, drawbacks to this grinding method include contamination from retention of the UV emulsion on the workpieces and the steps of curing and melting the UV emulsion are time consuming and increase production costs.
Therefore, a grinding apparatus and a grinding method that avoids potential shortcomings associated with the UV emulsion and that is generally quicker and cheaper than the known mounting methods associated with roller grinders is desired.